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Goldsborough Roman Signal Station
Prompted by a recently published article giving a fresh interpretation on the five Roman signal stations or fortlets along the Yorkshire coast, I popped down to re-visit the one at Goldsborough. A murky day. And not really much to see when there. just a few vague humps and bumps. In the featured image, Goldsborough can…
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Guisborough Races, 1784: Asses, Mens’ sack race, Ladies, and a Soap-tail’d Pig
Guisborough, population around 17,000. At the turn of the 19th-century, in the 1801 census, it was a mere 1,719. This was the eve of the industrial revolution, nevertheless it was the largest town in the area, the focal point of trade, although the alum industry, once a major employer, was in decline. Another industry which…
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It took me a while to realise that something was missing from this pastoral scene
Normally the tranquility would have been broken by the hissing of the resident flock of geese irritated by my presence here at Aireyholme Farm. But today there was silence. And back home, it came to me: the geese are under lock down, housed indoors by order of DEFRA to prevent the spread of the avian…
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The unmistakable silhouette of Scots Pine …
… ‘haloed‘ by the National Trust to give a breathing space and a chance to harden up before the remaining larch plantation is felled next winter. These trees are on a ridge called, quite coincidentally I think Scot Ridge, in Bransdale in the heart of the North York Moors. Barker Plantation is shown on the…
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An early start
It was dry when I left home but by Gribdale Gate, the wind had picked up and it was beginning to spit, and any thoughts of photography had been forgotten. Still, it was pleasant to see Gribdale empty of cars; apart from two early dog walkers. It’s has always been a popular car park as…
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The ever changing faces of Roseberry trig. point
It was given a fresh coat of paint in July if I recall. The stencils appeared soon after the Queen’s death and were left, out of respect. But graffiti artists do not show the same respect. So, weather permitting, the trig. point will be getting spruced up. A lovely clean canvas. Since last week a…
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Jackson’s Bank
A cold morning with the puddles covering by a skimpy layer of brittle ice, the first of the winter. This is looking down on Greenhow Bottom from the top of Jackson’s Bank. I would love to find out who Jackson was. He is elusive but certainly lived before the first Ordnance Survey was published in 1857.…
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It’s good to see blue skies after the grey of the last few days
This is the sands at Redcar. A few years after the turn of the 19th-century Redcar, with the exception of Scarborough, was described as “the most extensively patronised seaside resort on the N.E. coast.” An old Redcar woman, Mrs. Diana Carter, had begun providing the first bathing machines at Redcar in about 1802. Six years…
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Neil’s Howe
It was pleasing to see the Nelson Stone restored to its correct postion. Or should I say the 19th-century boundary stone. One of the last times I was here, in 2017, it had vanished. I learnt later it had unceremoniously been dumped in a nearby pond. That act of vandalism must have taken some doing.…
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“The autumn rain-rot deeper and wider soaks”
This autumnal carpet of dead leaves caught my eyes. The Scots have a word for a “circle of rotted dead leaves round the foot of a tree”: “Rain-rot”. Not to be confused with the modern useage for an equine skin disease. The word seems to have been a favourite of the Victorian English poet William…
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